Chapter 27: The County Public Security Bureau Exploded

It was 11:00 PM, and the Zhulin County Public Security Bureau remained brightly lit. Those who had already clocked off were called back in, and those who hadn't were still grinding away.

"Did you hear? Captain Song got arrested!"

"Damn, you're only just hearing that? Let me tell you, it's not just Captain Song; Secretary Sun from the County Committee was taken in too!"

"That's nothing—they even dragged in a wanted fugitive earlier..."

"Qin Chuan... does he have some kind of massive backing?"

If Qin Chuan had been an unknown ten days ago, there wasn't a single person in the Zhulin County Public Security Bureau who didn't know his name now. On his first day, he took down his prospective mother-in-law during a matchmaking session and cracked a twenty-year-old child trafficking case, all while nabbing a robbery-murder suspect from a neighboring city. On his second day, he arrested the captain of the Public Order Brigade, throwing him into prison and even getting the County Party Secretary reprimanded. Within a week, he had blown the lid off the Xinhai Coal Mine, single-handedly taken down twenty men, and captured over a dozen fugitives.

And yet, the case was turned on its head, with claims that Qin Chuan had used excessive force and beaten a suspect to death.

Now, in less than a day, he had somehow managed to arrest both the County Committee secretary and the captain of the County Criminal Investigation Brigade.

In the interrogation room, Wu Jianzhong looked defeated. He had wracked his brain, but he couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong. How on earth did that damn Qin Chuan end up in Sun Tao's room? Did he take the elevator? Without a magnetic key card, no one could reach the top floor. Did he climb up? It was a ten-story building!

Wu Jianzhong knew that with Wang Lang captured, he was finished. He had instigated Wang Lang to scout for women at the bars; he would definitely be held liable as the mastermind. As for dragging Dou Sihai into this... Wu Jianzhong wasn't that stupid. Rape wasn't the heaviest of charges, and even though he had done it a few too many times, he would likely get ten years at most. Perhaps even less, provided Dou Sihai was still out there. As long as that massive tree remained standing, his family would live comfortably even if he went to prison. But if he confessed, it would mean the destruction of his entire family. Wu Jianzhong understood exactly how to weigh his options.

Furthermore, during a break in his interrogation, someone had already passed him a message: take the fall for this, and he would be fine.

The handling of the case was unusually swift. That very night, everyone gave a full account. Wang Lang confessed to the 318 rape and murder case in Beizhou City. With DNA evidence, there was no way for him to deny it. Beyond that, seeking leniency, he voluntarily confessed that Wu Jianzhong had ordered him to scout for women in the bars—a total of three times involving five victims.

Wu Jianzhong didn't even need Wang Lang’s testimony; he confessed everything himself. Aside from the two women involved in this latest incident, he had enjoyed the other three as well. Not only that, he admitted to ordering Song Hui to swap the tissue samples from Dong Zhijun’s corpse. He laid out the entire process—how they planned it, how they executed it, how he bribed Song Hui, and how they drugged Dong Zhijun while he was hospitalized to frame Qin Chuan for violent homicide.

The situation with Sun Tao was initially difficult, but once he saw the video footage, he realized that a charge of attempted rape was inevitable. Since his attempt was forcibly interrupted rather than voluntarily abandoned, it was treated similarly to rape—starting with a three-year sentence.

The situation with Song Hui was much more complex.

In Zhou Xuexi's office, Qin Chuan held an appraisal report. With his forensic investigation skills, he understood it at a glance. It was a toxicology report. The result: Dong Zhijun’s body contained a large amount of datura alkaloids.

"Find it strange?"

Qin Chuan put the report down. He did find it strange. The tissue samples Song Hui had taken to the Xing'an City Criminal Investigation Detachment had come back with no traces of datura alkaloids. Why was there now a report stating that Dong Zhijun’s body contained a high concentration of the toxin?

Old Hu? He had only left that afternoon; it was impossible for him to have results this quickly.

So... Qin Chuan’s eyes lit up. "Director Zhou... did you set a trap for Song Hui?"

Zhou Xuexi was taken aback, then gave a bitter smile. "What do you mean, 'set a trap'? If he were clean and hadn't swapped the samples halfway, who could have done anything to him?"

"I had originally planned to arrest him during the expanded Party Committee meeting tomorrow morning to serve as a warning..." Zhou continued. "I didn't expect you to stir up such a massive storm overnight."

Qin Chuan scratched his head. He truly hadn't known about Zhou Xuexi’s plan. He had even briefly thought that Zhou was either in league with Song Hui or simply incompetent. It seemed he had overthought it. It made sense; someone who could become a county police chief couldn't possibly be a fool. Even if given another chance, Qin Chuan wouldn't have waited until morning. Li Xiaoyue and Jiang Yaoyao were innocent, and since he had encountered their plight, he had to intervene.

"Alright, Wang Xuebing is waiting for you outside. Get some rest tonight, and leave the rest of the work to us."

"Yes, sir!"

Outside the police station, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. Wang Xuebing was standing at the entrance. The old station chief looked at Qin Chuan, who was walking out of the county bureau, with a complex expression. Although he worked in the Criminal Investigation Brigade, he had heard all about Qin Chuan’s exploits that night from Old Huang.

Song Hui was not like Zhao Junhao. Within the Zhulin County Public Security Bureau, the Public Order Brigade had a wide jurisdiction, but it wasn't the core department. If you wanted to make money, you went to the Public Order Brigade; if you wanted to climb the ranks, you didn't. The Criminal Investigation Brigade led by Song Hui was different. That was the core of the core within the entire bureau. Because of this, Song Hui was able to serve concurrently as a member of the County Public Security Bureau Party Committee.

Yet, a man with such a promising future and real power had been taken down by a mere entry-level officer like Qin Chuan.

"You kid... you really are bold enough to defy the heavens!"

Qin Chuan chuckled. "Chief Wang, what choice did I have? They were trying to kill me. I couldn't just stick my neck out and let them chop it off, could I?"

Returning to the guesthouse, Qin Chuan couldn't wait to open his system interface. He had earned a substantial amount of merit points from this ordeal. If nothing else, Wang Lang, a wanted fugitive, had provided 64 points of evil value alone!